Skip to content

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ve compiled a list of books  written by Latinx authors and portraying aspects of the Latinx experience. All of these books are available through NCW Libraries, with many of them in audiobook, ebook, and bilingual Spanish/English formats.  Enjoy!

Picture Books

Abuelita and Me/Abuelita y Yo by Leonarda Carranza

A girl and her beloved abuelita (grandmother) lean on each other as they run errands in the city.

Dreamers/Soñadores by Yuyi Morales

An illustrated picture book autobiography in which award-winning author Yuyi Morales tells her own immigration story and how libraries transformed her life as a newcomer to the United States.

El Cucuy is Scared, Too  by Donna Barba Higuera

Ramón is a little boy who can’t sleep. He is nervous for his first day at a new school. And El Cucuy is the monster who lives in Ramón’s cactus pot. He can’t sleep, either. It turns out that El Cucuy is scared, too! In this sweet tale, two friends help each other feel better about new beginnings and possibilities.

Paletero Man  by Lucky Diaz

A vibrant picture book celebrating the strength of community and the tastes of summer from Latin Grammy-winning musician Lucky Diaz.

Tia Fortuna’s New Home/El Nuevo Hogar de Tía Fortuna by Ruth Behar

When Estrella’s Tía Fortuna has to say goodbye to her longtime Miami apartment building, The Seaway, to move to an assisted living community, Estrella spends the day with her.

Abuelita & Me book cover
Paletero Man book cover
Tia Fortuna book cover
Graphic Novels

Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos

Marisol loves her colorful island home. Cuba is vibrant with flowers and food and people…but things are changing. This stunning wordless graphic novel follows a young girl in the 1960s who immigrates from Cuba to the United States and must redefine what home means to her.

Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo

Sue just wants to spend the summer reading and making comics at overnnight camp with her friends, but instead she gets stuck going to Honduras to visit relatives with her parents and two sisters. The trip takes a turn for the worse when Sue’s mother announces that they’ll be having a surprise quinceañera for Sue.

Tales from la Vida : a Latinx comics anthology by Frederick  Aldama

Collection of comics created by Latinx artists and writers sheds light on their various autobiographical experiences.

Isla to Island book cover
Miss Quinces book cover
Tales from La Vida book cover
Novels

Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros

Seventh-grader Efrén Nava’s world is turned upside down when his mother is deported to Mexico. He is suddenly faced with having to take care of his twin siblings, juggling a faltering friendship, and helping his family stay together through one of the most difficult times in their lives.

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children — among them Petra and her family — have been chosen to journey to a new planet. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet — and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth.

Marcus Vega doesn’t speak Spanish by Pablo  Cartaya

After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus’s mother takes him and his younger brother, who has Down syndrome, to Puerto Rico to visit relatives they do not remember or have never met, and while there Marcus starts searching for his father, who left their family ten years ago and is somewhere on the island.

No somos de aquí by Jenny  Torres

Three teenage immigrants risk the trip from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States southern border in search of a better life. 

Efren Divided book cover
The Last Quenista book cover
Marcus Vega book cover
No Somos de Aqui book cover
Nonfiction

Gaby’s Latin American Kitchen by Gaby Melian

Explore the cuisine of Latin America with 70 recipes — all kid tested and approved by America’s Test Kitchen Kids’ panel of more than 15,000 recipe testers

My Mexico City Kitchen: Recipes and Convictions (English version) or  Mi Cocina de ciudad de Mexico: Recetas y Convicciones (Spanish version) by Gabriela Camara

With 150 recipes for Basicos (basics), Desayunos (breakfasts), Primeros (starters), Platos Fuertos (mains), and Postres (sweets), Mexican food-lovers will find all the dishes they want to cook in this bestselling cookbook.

Once I Was You: Finding My Voice and Passing the Mic by Maria Hinojosa

Maria Hinojosa is an Emmy award-winning journalist and was the first Latina to found a national independent non-profit newsroom in the United States.  Here, she combines stories from her life, beginning with her family’s experience of immigration all the way through the first time she heard her own voice on national radio.

Gaby's Kitchen book cover
My Mexico City Kitchen book cover

Stay Informed!

The latest library happenings, delivered straight to your inbox.

Need help? Check out our FAQ’s.
Not finding what you're looking for? Make a purchase suggestion.

Click here to close search window.